Electric signal.



C. H. LIGHT.

ELECTRIC SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I7. 1913.

1,15*?,990- Patented Im. 26, 1915.

if Elfi@ CLAUS LIGHT, OF DES MOINES, OWA,`ASSIGNR OF ONE-HALF TO EDWINRUDNICI,

0F IVIANNING, OWA.

ELE CTRIG sional..

To @ZZ fai/1,0m t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CLAUS H. LIGHT., 1 citizen of the United States,residing a Des Moines, in the county of Polk and citate of iowa, haveinvented a certain-new `and useful Electric Signal, of which thefollowing is a specification. y

The object of my invention is to providejl; an electric signal designedespecially for usett in connection with fire hose and the like providedwith current carrying wires count to the end of the hose.

shown moi'inted on the nozzle a lamp 14 and tersunk in the walls of thehose and cou-r plers comprising the lire hose and arranged so that thehose sections may be detacheda without attention to the wires, saidwires being arranged so that they may be connected with a battery at theunion of any one of the couplers to carry a current therefrom to asignal light, bell or buzzer at any suitable place on the hose ornozzle, said signal being arranged to be operated by means of; a key orswitch placed ata point distanttherefrom.

A further object is to provide a simple and effective means contained'within the walls of the couplers for detachablfyconnecting the ends ofthe wires inthe adjacent hose and also to provide means whereby abatterymay be connected with the wires countersunk in the hose at any union ofthe adjacent sections of said hose. I Y

My invention consistsin certain details, in the construction,arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, wherebythe objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully setforth, pointed out in my claim and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a sectional view of a fire hose provided with my electricsignal, said signal. being shown in diagram thereon. Fig. 2 shows acircumferential, sectional view taken through the middle of adjacentcouplers, and Fig. 8 shows a longitudinal, sectional View taken on theline B--S of Fig. 2.

ln connection with my signal device, it is necessary to employ a form ofcoupler for the hose that will always insure a constancy of thecircumferential positions of the adjacent sections of the coupler sothat the contact points on the ends of the sections `will at all timesengage each other. For this purpose, I employ the form of couplerembodied in an application filed by me and ac- Specicaton of LettersPatent.

" Number 755,026, filed March 17, 1913. This coupler comprises twotelescopically con- Patented Uct. 26, 1915.

1913. serial No. 755,027.

:conipai'iying the present application, Serial n,n ected sections 10 and11 held in closed poi sltion by means of spring actuated loops orclamps.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, 1 have used the referencenumeral 12 to indicate the sections of a hose fitted at their ends tothe coupling devices l0 and 11.

13 represents a nozzle or play pipe fitted ln the present form of mydevice, l have a buzzer 15. Both of these are used as signal devices andare electrically connected with batteries by means of insulated wiresembedded in the walls of the hose and couplers. v

1G represents the wires in the lamp circuit connected with a battery 17and operated by a switch 18.

19 represents the wires in the buzzer cir- -cuit connected with abattery 20 and operated by a ringing key 21.

Obviously, it is essential that the electric wires be arranged in suchamanner that the hose sections can be quickly detached with- .outmanually disconnecting the wires, and

thereforel have employed in each' of the couplers the followingarrangement for securing a contact of the wires in adjacent hosesections. A bore is provided in the walls of each portion of thecouplers and into it is fitted an insulated tube 22 provided with aflange 23. The wire entering this tube is provided with a metal disk 2lifitted in the inner end of the insulated tube. Resting against the metaldisk within the tube is a coil spring 25 and a metal contact plug 26 isinserted in said tube in position against the spring with its roundedend projecting a slight distance beyond the wall of the coupler section.A lug 27 is fixed to the contact plug and operates within a slot in theinsulated tube to limit the outward movement of said plug. l haveprovided a gasket 27a between the inner adjacent edges of the couplingdevices to form a water tight joint to prevent water within the hosefrom coming in contact with the electric contact devices and therebyshort-circuit the current therein.

For connecting a battery with the electric wires, the following deviceis provided. At

the union of two sections of the hose wheie the ends of the contactplugs are projected .parallel metal strips 28 are fitted over the endsofthe contact plugs and. extended outwardly beyond the periphery of thehose coupler Where they .are connected to wires leading to the battery.Insulated cross pieces 29 are employed between the parallel strips. 4 l

In the construction of my device, the sig- Vnals consist of a lamp, bellor buzzer and may be attached te the hose at any suitable point thereon.The Wires running from the signals to the batteries are preferably builtin the walls of the hose'or Vembedded in' grooves therein. Each batteryand its hey or switch for controlling it are preferably mote part of abuilding and a considerable `length of hose has. been extended insidethereof, it is of course dilicult for the firemen at the nozzle of thehose to observe the danger of their surroundings. There A the nozzle isprovided with signals, as shown herein, any person lon the exterior ofthe building noting an impending crash of the walls or roof can, byoperating the switch or key, quickly warn the firemen Within the .Ybuilding of their immediate danger.

Another advantage in the use of my signal device is to be found in caseswhere fire `is confined to a smoke lled room,'in which case, if thenozzle is provided with a' key or switch and the signal device islocated on the hose at a point a considerable distance from the nozzle,the firemen feeling themselves overcome bv the effects of the smoke,can, by operating the switch or key, signal to persons stationed outsideof the building for help.

I claim as my invention:

In a device of the class described, the combination of detachable hosesections, an electris cally operated device mounted on said hose,conducting wires extending along said hose and connected at one end tosaid device, a sleeve mounted in each section adjacent to the end of thesection, contact points slidf ably mounted in said sleeves, means forliniiting the movement of said contact points, yielding devices tendingto hold said contact points projecting slightly beyond the ends of thesections in which they are mounted, means for electrically connectingthe contact point with the wires, a source of electric power, wiresconnected therewith, a switch operatively connected with one of saidwires, means for connecting said last described wires with said contactpoints, said means comprising a pair of parallel arms adapted to havetheir ends inserted into the space between two adjacent sections withsaid ends iitted over said contact points, which contact points are heldprojected into said arms by said yielding means, insulator barseonnccting said parallel arms, and means for connecting kthe upper endsof said wires connected with said battery.

Des Moines, Iowa, March 8, 1913.

' CLAUS H. LIGHT. Witnesses:

MARY WALLACE, SARA ROBINSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for jive cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

